sell short

The various floors, or tranches, of subprime mortgage bonds all had one thing in common: The bonds were impossible to sell short.

Consider the performance of a hypothetical portfolio that buys the 10% of stocks with the highest betas and sells short the decile of stocks with the lowest betas.

The viral clip of the show is the convenient entry point, but it sells short what the gentlemen have built.

Trivariate Research founder Adam Parker screened for stocks to sell short before the companies report their earnings.

That could help lift the stock, which may now be being held back as arbitrageurs buy Lennar and sell short Millrose to capture a favorable spread of about 6% on the deal.